* ActorAllusion: ** Ed Green says he wasn't sure if Joe Fontana was "a cop or a wise guy" when they first met. This referred to Dennis Farina's having played mobsters in ''Series/MiamiVice'', ''Film/MidnightRun'' and ''Film/GetShorty.''** Fontana would also frequently mention his days as a Chicago cop. Farina played the lead character in ''Series/CrimeStory,'' who was a cop from Chicago. Also, Farina was a Chicago cop in RealLife before he became an actor.** In one episode, Lennie Briscoe mentioned that his father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic, while he was Raised Catholic himself, the same as Creator/JerryOrbach's real family background.** Creator/SamWaterston is well-known for his various stage and screen portrayals of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln. Perhaps as a result, Jack [=McCoy=] has at various times suspended ''habeus corpus'' and become deeply involved in cases relating to human trafficking and slavery.** One episode featured a bitter, paranoid, blind man who blamed his lost vision on the medical profession. The actor playing him was Dana Elcar, who lost his sight while co-starring on ''Series/MacGyver''. ** Lennie admitting to Green that he had once thought about attending law school. Jerry Orbach's first appearance on the show was as a defense attorney.* ButIPlayOneOnTV: Actor Fred Thompson's reputation as a "law and order candidate" (no pun intended) came more from his time on this show as Arthur Branch than on anything he'd actually said or done. * CastTheExpert: ** Attorney and politician Fred Thompson played the district attorney for several years, though he also had prior acting experience playing the roles of senior government officials and authority figures, so this would be a cross between CastTheExpert and TypeCasting.** Joe Fontana was a police officer with the Chigaco Police Department before moving to New York. Dennis Farina served with CPD for 18 years in RealLife before beginning his acting career.* DyeingForYourArt: S. Epatha Merkerson prefers to keep her hair in braids and, during her stint on the show, wore a wig over her natural hair to give Van Buren a more "professional" look.* ExecutiveMeddling: [[TropesAreTools A strangely positive case.]] You know [[DaChief S. Epatha Merkerson's]] character? How about [[HelloAttorney Jill Hennessy's]]? Both came about via NBC wanting more women on the cast. Thus, Dann Florek (Don Cragen) and Richard Brooks (Paul Robinette) were written out of the series, since the show's formula could only handle six principals. (Although this was a negative from the point of view of the two actors and their fans, Brooks was able to reprise the his role in a later episode to give closure to the character, while Florek received a not-bad consolation prize - he was cast in a central role on the long-running SVU spin-off. Both Michael Moriarty and Creator/ChrisNoth were bitter about NBC's meddling; the former even went on rants in public about the whole deal and proved to be a liability for Dick Wolf. Thus, both actors were canned (or resigned) in Seasons 4 and 5, respectively.* FakeAmerican: ** Jill Hennessy is Canadian. Hennessy's character (Claire Kincaid) does have a slight accent.** Same with Linus Roache, who has a very thick English accent but pulls off a compelling Brooklyn accent in his portrayal of Mike Cutter.** It is sometimes erroneously stated that Michael Moriarty is also Canadian; in fact, he was born and raised and began his career in the United States, but later became a Canadian citizen after leaving Law & Order.* FanNickname: "The Rohmbot", an "affectionate" reference to Elisabeth Rohm's [[DullSurprise acting style]] as Serena Southerlyn.* HostilityOnTheSet: After the [[ExecutiveMeddling controversial removal of Dann Florek and Richard Brooks due to NBC wanting females added on the show]], both Creator/ChrisNoth and Michael Moriarty's relationships with Creator/DickWolf went downhill. They openly complained about him, the network and the decision (even with the former admitting that the show was better when it was all men.) Eventually, both men were fired by 1995, but Noth did receive both a follow-up story in ''Exiled: A Law & Order Movie'' and eventually returned as Det. Logan in ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent''.* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: Regina Taylor, who co-starred as Creator/SamWaterston's maid in the critically-acclaimed but short-lived drama ''I'll Fly Away'', appeared in the episode "Virtue" as a lawyer who took the stand against the senior partner who forced her to sleep with him for a promotion, thus getting him convicted of felony extortion. Fans of ''I'll Fly Away'' couldn't help but smile as the two shook hands at the end of the episode.* LifeImitatesArt: Both Jamie Ross and her actress, Carey Lowell, left for the same reasons: they wanted to spend more time with their daughters.* McLeaned: [[spoiler:Rumor has it that Alexandra Borgia's particularly brutal death was a result of actress Annie Parisse refusing to sleep with one of the show's writers. Though it's since been debunked. WordOfGod says she left because she felt unfulfilled in her role and wanted to explore different acting opportunities, and the reason she was killed off was because the writers had always wanted to murder an A.D.A.]]* RealLife/MeanCharacterNiceActor: ** While Lennie Briscoe isn't as bad as most characters in this trope, the real Creator/JerryOrbach was universally said to be a warm, friendly guy who constantly told jokes, not at all like the dry and [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] character he made famous. He was so well-liked that ''actual'' NYPD officers who spotted him on the streets would often take the time to give him a ride to his destination.** Despite playing Mike Cutter who can often be cold and abrasive, Linus Roache is described by his co-stars as funny, humble, and candid.* NamesTheSame:** The judge [[spoiler:who is both senile and being guided by his law clerk]] in Season 19's "Zero" is named [[Series/{{Firefly}} Malcolm Reynolds]].** One of the victims in Season 2's "The Wages of Love" was named [[Literature/{{Twilight}} Edward Cullen]].** Crossed with AppealToObscurity: From "House Calls," which is about the death of an aspiring model. Andee Mae Khan, who runs the modeling agency in the episode, talks about how, in modeling, "an inch here, an ounce there" means the difference between (RealLife [=supermodel=]) Creator/{{Elle MacPherson}} and "Cookie Rutigliano." Green asks who that is and the character says, "That's my point." This episode was written by Janis Diamond, who was later one of the writers of the short-lived [=TNT=] series ''Bull,'' which included a character named Cookie Rutigliano.* ThePeteBest: The original DA was not Adam Schiff, but Alfred Wentworth, who appeared only in the pilot. Ironically, Schiff was played by Steven Hill, who was himself subject to this trope (he was the original lead on ''Series/MissionImpossible'').* PlayingAgainstType: Comedian Anthony Anderson as Kevin Bernard, a ByTheBookCop.* StarMakingRole: For Creator/ChrisNoth, Jill Hennessy, Creator/SEpathaMerkerson, Creator/BenjaminBratt and Creator/AngieHarmon. It served as more of a CareerResurrection for Creator/JesseLMartin.* TomHanksSyndrome: Creator/JerryOrbach was originally known as a song-and-dance man (Lumiere in ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' is a good example of the sort of roles he took prior to ''L&O'') and was an immensely respected stage actor. Being cast as Lennie Briscoe, however, greatly changed the trajectory of his career.* TypeCasting: ** Creator/JerryOrbach had performed in numerous musicals and other performances prior to his role on the show, playing a detective character only once in a movie. Nevertheless, his performance in that movie impressed Dick Wolf so much that he wanted Jerry to continue with the snarky detective character; because of his immense popularity as Det. Lennie Briscoe, he remains instantly recognizable as his detective character.** Dennis Farina, as mentioned before, was a cop in the Chicago PD, so he played numerous police roles before and after his stint as Joe Fontana.* UnderAgeCasting: Jill Hennessy was twenty-four when she was cast as Claire Kincaid. In the United States the minimum age at which one can graduate from law school is twenty-five. But, if don't take any time off and have a birthday after May, you would graduate at twenty-four (high school graduation at seventeen, college at twenty-one, law school at twenty-four). It's not common, but it's possible, especially if you commit to becoming a lawyer young. Alternatively the physical differences between someone aged 24 and 25 are close to nonexistent so almost no one in the audience would notice.Had she been 19 then it would stick out a bit more proeminently.** Claire also clerked for a judge for two years before joining the D.A.'s office.* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ** A particularly tragic case of RealLifeWritesThePlot: In early 2001, Dick Wolf was planning a large-scale miniseries event involving the casts of ''Law And Order'', ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', and ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' teaming up to investigate a terrorist attack on New York City. Then [[TheWarOnTerror September came along,]] and... (Sadly, as a result, they never did get around to doing a three-way crossover of any type with the original L&O trio.)** Less tragically, Detective JustForFun/JohnMunch from ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' was originally pitched as joining the original series as Detective Briscoe's new partner, but by the time the suggestion was made, Creator/JesseLMartin had already been hired, so he was moved to ''SVU'' instead.** Alana de la Garza's pregnancy would have been written into Season 21 if the show had not been canceled.** Remember those [[CrossOver crossovers]] that would involve Series/LawAndOrder and Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet? At one point, producers wanted the story arc to include ''Series/{{ER}}'', but ''ER'''s producers either declined outright or the collective group couldn't figure out how to work the latter show in, so the idea was dropped.** A new lieutenant would have been introduced in Season 21, had there been one. S. Epatha Merkerson announced her departure from the show well in advance of its cancellation.** Creator/MichaelMadsen was a finalist for Det. Mike Logan.** Creator/JohnLeguizamo and Creator/DannyTrejo were considered for Det. Rey Curtis.** Creator/MartinSheen was considered for Sgt.Max Greevey. Creator/StephenTobolowsky and Creator/JerryOrbach also auditioned for the role.* TheWikiRule: [[http://lawandorder.wikia.com/wiki/Law_%26_Order_Wiki Law and Order Wiki.]]* YouLookFamiliar:** A particularly weird case: While Lennie Briscoe became the face of the franchise for the better part of the series, actor Creator/JerryOrbach first appeared in the second season as defense attorney Frank Lehrmann. Every bit as much of a DeadpanSnarker as his later detective character, Orbach's attorney character is remembered for the line "It's called plea bargaining, not plea scalping!"** An equally strange example includes S. Epatha Merkerson playing the bereaved mother of a murder victim years before she was cast as Lieutenant Van Buren.** Annie Parisse played the stripper girlfriend of a defendant shortly before being cast as ADA Borgia. Parisse allegedly wanted to play the same character and claim that she had been working as a stripper to pay for law school, but Dick Wolf wasn't keen on the idea, and not without reason; in story, initially Jack wasn't keen on Abby becoming his assistant due to her inexperience- she'd been an ADA for five years at that point. Given the short timespan between Annie Parisse's appearance as a stripper and her debut as Borgia, it would stretch credibility that she went from paying her way through law school to climbing the ranks of the DA's office in such a short amount of time.** Additionally, a clean-shaven Jeremy Sisto appears as defense attorney Clint Glover in the season finale of the 17th season. In the very next episode, he returns as a scruffy Detective Cyrus Lupo and continues this role for the rest of the series.** Several character actors appeared numerous times in the series, each time in a different role. As examples:*** Comedian Larry Miller appeared three times -- twice as a husband who hired people to murder his two wives, and once ''as himself''. *** It's a bit off-putting when a certain actor (Paul Calderon, to be specific) appears as a pedophilic child rapist who pours insecticide on a 10-year-old girl in one episode, reappears as a particularly good lawyer in another, and then reappears as a decorated war veteran acquitted for assaulting and killing a college student in another.*** Character actor Jonathan Hogan played ''seven'' different characters on the various Law & Order shows, including four different characters on the mother show.*** [[RetroactiveRecognition Future Daily Show correspondent]] Aasif Mandvi played numerous characters across ''Law & Order'' as well as its spin-offs: a hot dog vendor, a pornography store owner, a university professor, and finally a judge on ''Trial By Jury.'' [[WordOfSaintPaul Mandvi has gone on record]] as saying they're all the same guy, and he's very proud of that guy for working his way up in the world. ** Creator/ZeljkoIvanek made one appearance on Law and Order as a smug corrupt businessman, convicted for murdering an elderly man who swindled money from him (which he had, in turn, swindled for his wealthy friends) who managed to get acquitted after the police actually find the body years later. After that, he made at least two appearances as his [[Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet Homicide]] character before making another appearance as a different character. Ivanek also appeared on SVU alongside [[JustForFun/JohnMunch Richard Belzer]], who he had previously starred with in Homicide. ** Tamara Tunie appeared as a defense attorney in the L&O episode "Deadbeat" before she landed a role in ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' as Dr. Melinda Warner.** Anthony Anderson had first appeared in the [[Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit SVU]] episode "Fat" as Elliot Stabler's temporary partner a rule-bending, hotheaded detective named Lucius Blaine, before playing a lead in the last 3 seasons of Law and Order.** Eric Bogosian appeared as a defense attorney in two episodes of the early L&O seasons, more than a decade before he started out as Cpt. Danny Ross in LawAndOrderCriminalIntent.----